


Lead The Way

by DittyWrites



Category: Borderlands
Genre: Blood, Elements of Horror, F/F, F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Mansion Fic, Spooky, Swearing, Threats, Vaughn is so macho...he's got to be...SO MACHO!, any everyone is one hundred percent done, especially Athena
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-08
Packaged: 2018-07-12 18:46:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7118116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DittyWrites/pseuds/DittyWrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A wrong turn leads to Rhys (Handsome Jack included), Vaughn, Fiona, Sasha, Athena, August, LoaderBot and Gortys being trapped inside an old abandoned mansion overnight as they hide from a roving gang of bandits. Misfortune has split them into three separate teams and they now need to work together to make it back into one solid group.</p><p>Idiots.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first foray into Borderlands fic of any kind so i am still trying to get a feel for the characters. 
> 
> Any and all feedback is appreciated or if you wanna request anything specific (and help a lady out) then feel free to suggest something to me at acapelladitty.tumblr.com/ask <3 xx

"THEY'RE GAINING ON US! WE NEED TO HAUL ASS!” Running as fast as her legs could carry her, Fiona fought to keep up her speed as she sneaked a look at the huge wave of bandits who were currently pursuing her and her group through the dusty expanse of desert. The sun was setting in the far distance and as it grew darker it became more difficult to see exactly how close the bandits were to their position.

She had been the one to discover the treasure map which had let to the gang coming together for another of their legendary and, regardless of how well planned out they were, dangerous adventures and things had been going well until they discovered that their chosen route led them directly into a path of a bandit camp.

And it turns out that the assembled collection of bandits and psychos did not appreciate the unexpected company.

To her right she could see Rhys, August and Sasha following her example and sprinting as quickly as they possible manage and on the left Athena and Vaughn were doing the exact same.

She could also hear the frantic whirring of LoaderBot as he weaved slightly behind the group to make locking on to their position more difficult for the enemies who were attempting to target them and to soak up any bullets which may come close, all the while protecting Gortys who he had wrapped up in his arms to prevent damage.

“Ouch. Ouch. These bullets are a real pain in my ass. Ouch.” LoaderBot announced monotonously as the small clinking of connecting bullets continued to be heard over the screeching and manic shouting of the pursuing bandits.

“I know buddy! I know! We need to get to shelter!” Sasha called out between breaths, “I am open to ideas guys!” She shouted over her shoulder.

“There is an old mansion house just over the next hill!” Ducking to avoid a large rock which flew over his head, August bared his teeth, “Fucking idiots! But really, the old mansion has an electrified fence which surrounds it! If we can get the little robot to re-electrify it we can be safe in there until we come up with a real plan!”

“Sounds good to me!!” Rhys joined the conversation, his voice scratchy from exhaustion. “All this exercise CANNOT be good for me.” Forcing himself to keep moving despite the aching of his legs, he wondered how Vaughn was getting on. “How you doing Vau-”

Glancing to the side of him, he saw Vaughn keeping his pace up with no sign of stopping. To Rhys it looked like he was barely even breaking a sweat and he had an odd, almost-serene expression on his face as he sprinted.

Turning to meet his glance, Vaughn tilted his head and asked pleasantly, “Yo, did you say something bro?”

“No. Nah. Nooooooope. Just saying how I was enjoying our run!” He gave a fake smile, holding up a shaky thumbs up which was immediately met with a steady one from Vaughn. “Damn exercise bike.” He muttered quietly as he faced forward again.

As they finally reached the top of the hill, the mansion which August had mentioned came into view.

“LAST ONE TO THE MANSION GETS THEIR EYEBALLS RIPPED OUT AND EATEN!” Sasha yelled as they raced down the sandy hill to their destination.

Being the first to arrive at the metal fence, she wrenched the door open and ran towards to the fuse box, closely followed by Vaughn.

Keeping an eye out as they all ran through the gate, she watched as Fiona slammed it shut behind her and fixed the large lock into place. “Is there power?” Fiona shouted over to her.

Pulling open the fuse box with Vaughn's help, she eyed the available green light. “YES! WE HAVE THE POWER!”

“Well turn it on then!” Athena called out, sounding exasperated.

“Yes Ma'am!” Vaughn agreed and pulled the level down.

The sound of the fence electrifying was heard immediately as a soft buzzing made itself known on the surrounding metal. At the area of the actual lock, electricity itself could be seen arcing over the gate as a warning to intruders.

“YEEHAW!” Vaughn shouted again as he watched the bandits slow and eye the fence apprehensively.

“Did he just 'yeehaw'?” Fiona raised an eyebrow and turned to face Rhys.

Rhys grimaced slightly. “Yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, “we don't talk about the cowboy thing.”

“Ooookay.” Looking back at the bandits, Fiona's face became panicked, “GUYS! We have a problem!”

In two of the small gaps which existed in the face, the sight of two rocket launchers could be seen poking through as two of the rocket-wielding bandits took their aim towards the group. One took aim at the main group and the other at Sasha and Vaughn as they ran back from the fuse box.

The guns clicked as they started to lock on.

The second bandit was the first to fire and, in horror, Rhys realised that Sasha and Vaughn would not be able to escape the blast on foot.

Pointing at the pair, he screeched, “LOADERBOT! GET THEM OUTTA HERE!” His expression becoming more panicked as he watched one of the small rockets closing in on Vaughn and Sasha's position.

Dropping Gortys gently, LoaderBot launched himself at the fleeing duo and scooped them up just as the rocket impacted on the ground where they had stood. The blast caught the robot as he was escaping and instead of flying them back to the group he was forced higher into the air.

“Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit” LoaderBot announced as he was launched skywards.

As he started to descend, the sound of Vaughn's panicked yelling was all that could be heard as the group watched LoaderBot crash through the roof and into the mansion itself, both humans still safe in his grasp.

Any words which the remaining group had were cut off as they heard the first rocket bandit fire his own shot.

Throwing open the doors of the mansion they bundled inside. Leading the charge, Fiona, August and Gortys, raced across the entrance towards the main hall to avoid the rocket. Behind them, Rhys and Athena attempted to keep up.

Knowing they were too slow, Athena grabbed Rhys and placed her behind him and she threw her shield out to protect them from the worst of the blast. The rocket hit her shield at full force and a large explosion caused Fiona to close her eyes as the blinding light was followed by a large crashing noise and a short yell.

Waiting for the dust to settle, she opened her eyes and was confronted by a large hole in the floor where Athena and Rhys had stood.

“GUYS!” She screamed into the darkness below, waiting for an answer.

A small cough was the first noise to emerge followed by Athena's unshakeable voice. “We are okay. This one hit his head but he's conscious.” Right on time a small groan also rose from the dark.

“Yeah he does that.” Smirking, Fiona continued to squint into the darkness. “Can you find some way back up to us? Sasha will lead the other guys down to meet us and it'll be safer to stick together. Shall we say...the main hall?”

“Then we will meet you there once we have located an exit.” Athena agreed.

Straightening up, Fiona eyed up both August and Gortys, “If they're gonna be a while do you want to have a small exploration of this place? Find some expensive heirlooms? Some silverware?” She raised her eyebrows.

“I would love to go stealing with the both of you. My friends are very good at taking things which do not belong to them.” Gortys exclaimed cheerily while looking up at them.

“The little robot is right, it sounds fun.” August agreed as he wiped some of the dust from his face and had a quick look around the destroyed entrance. “Lead the way.”

x-x-x-x-x

Groaning as he struggled to gather his bearings, Rhys cracked one open and was met with complete darkness.

“I'M BLIND!” He screamed in a panic. “I WAS BLINDED IN THE FALL! HELP! HELLLP! FIONA! VAUGHNNNNNN!”

His vision was restored to him as the thin blanket which was blocking his view was pulled from him by an amused-looking Athena.

“Really?” She asked, the corner of her mouth turning up.

“Shush. I think I hit my head. Can I get a little sympathy here?” He moaned pitifully.

“No.”

Sighing, he pulled himself to his feet and took a good look around. The basement they have been blasted into was almost completely black with only a few cracks of light here and there providing a faint idea as to what objects surrounded them. There was also a faint smell of damp.

“Eww.” He hissed as he stood in something wet. “Please don't be blood. Please don't be blood.” He repeated quietly.

In front of him, Athena used the faint pinkish glow from her shield to scan around her immediate area. The light fell over several abandoned ammo cases and old furniture which had been covered with dust and webbing.

His eyes darting around the darkness, Rhys gulped in fear.“ Uhh, Athena, do you remember the name of that old rhyme? Y'know the one with the monster that lives in the dark and eats people who walk into its house? Not that I think that's what gonna happen here or anything but do you know what its name was?”

“It was the Grunnelskag.” The voice of Handsome Jack answered immediately as he burst to life behind Rhys, causing the nervous man to yelp in fear. The slight knock to his head had allowed Jack to escape from his mental confines and Rhys had to a admit that he was a little pleased to see him.

Well not _pleased_ to see him, but he really did appreciate the extra blue light which Jack provided to shine on the creepy darkness, allowing him a better field of vision.

That kind of pleased.

Honestly.

“How the hell do you know that?” Rhys whirled around and faced the hologram, ignoring the look of mistrust which Athena sent his way as he conversed with the maniac. She really hated it when he did that.

But the hologram ignored him of favour of looking to the side of the room with a far-off glance, “Used to read it to my Angel when she was a kid. She loved that book. Always had a thing for the scary monsters, she did.” His tone had taken on an unfamiliar softness which only happened when he discussed his lost daughter.

“Ahh...okay then.” Rhys offered awkwardly. He hated Jack mentioning his daughter, it always forced him to view the madman in a more humane light and it was seriously weird.

“Athena!” Shouting quietly as he watched the assassin continue to scope out the surroundings, he caught her attention. “What's the plan, assassin-man?” Even to his own ears, his forced cockiness sounded fake.

Athena paused her search to turn and send him a dirty look, “Did you just call me a man?” She asked, her tone dangerous.

Back-pedalling immediately, Rhys held out his hands in defense, “N-no! No, no, no, no! It was just a joke, just trying to rhyme 'plan' with 'man'. I mean I could have said 'woman' but that would have sounded weird with the extra syllable and I just,” he faltered as she narrowed her eyes, “like to rhyme? It was a bit of fun...I'm sorry.” He conceded.

Scoffing, she turned back to her search as she continued to use the dim lights to manoeuvre a way through all the old junk back to the assigned meeting area of the main hall.

At his side, Jack snorted. “Jeez cupcake! Why not just rip your balls off and hand them to her in a pouch? I mean, if I was there I probably would have apologised too cause, y'know, she wants to kill me anyway and that wouldn't have helped my cause but at least I would have apologised with a little bit of dignity. Good going kiddo!” Throwing a sarcastic thumbs up, Jack hovered directly in front of Rhys.

“Shut up you ass.” Rhys muttered as he walked straight through him and followed the path which Athena was making.

x-x-x-x-x

Still slightly stunned by their unexpected sky-high journey, Sasha and Vaughn lay unmoving in the ungraceful positions which they had landed on as they attempted to catch their breath back. Between them, LoaderBot filled the available remaining space as he waited for something to happen.

From the open hole in the ceiling, the trio could see the darkening sky.

Almost immediately after they had fallen through they could have swore they heard another rocket blast go off but it was incredibly difficult to tell since the fall had caused their ears to ring quite roughly and they had not heard any screaming or hint of panic from the others.

“Vaughn,” Sasha offered quietly to the other silent figure after a moment had passed, “you okay there?”

“Yeah i'm good, I only had a rocket launched into my face. No real biggie.” He summarised with a false cheer. “You?”

“I'm good. What about you LoaderBot?” She looked at the robot and her eyes widened in shock, “Eek! Umm, LoaderBot, where are your legs?” Her tone was apprehensive as she took in the damage.

“The blast blasted them off,” the robot replied instantly, “I am not happy with this change of circumstance. Not cool.”

“I...don't blame you.” Sasha admitted after a moments hesitation. She lifted her head and had a quick scout of where they were, “I think we're stuck in the attic of this old place. We should go and meet the others and see if we can get our saviour here patched up.” She patted LoaderBot on the shoulder gently.

“I am the second coming.” LoaderBot announced to the room.

Vaughn shook his head slightly, “Try to stay humble, friend.” Watching as Sasha moved to stand to her feet, he soon frowned as she let out a small gasp of pain. “What's wrong?”

“My ankle,” She hissed as she attempted to put pressure on it, “I think i've sprained it. Goddamn bandits!”

“Someone will have a first aid kit. Athena usually carries a small one. We should probably go and try and get our hands on it,” Vaughn concluded, “LoaderBot, can you carry her around please? Thanks buddy.”

“Negative.”

“Wait what? Why not?”

“My internal structure has been compromised, her weight on my shoulder will cause my arm to disengage.”

“Wait, is he calling me fat?” Sasha raised a dangerous eyebrow as she sized up the injured robot, “Yo Vaughn, is he calling me fat?”

“...negative.” LoaderBot replied again after a slight pause.

“Well I am not letting you leave me here in this creepy ass attic while you go off having an adventure,” Sasha exclaimed hotly, “Vaughn, you can carry me.”

“Excuse me?” His face was a picture of shock.

“Carry me. C'mon Mr Muscle put those rock-hard abs to good use!” She teased lightly while waving her hands out at him.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Let me on your back.”

Trudging towards her, Vaughn muttered, “This is kind of humiliating,” as he bent down to allow her to secure herself safely around his lower back.

Locking her legs around his stomach and her arms around his upper waist, she made herself comfortable. “See, I knew this would be no trouble for you, Captain Biceps.”

“Could we stop with the jokes?” Vaughn pleaded, his voice only a little strained from the excess weight he was now carrying.

“Of course I can babe.” He couldn't see her but he could hear the humour in her tone.

“Babe?”

“Well, this is kinda romantic don't you think.”

“N-no. Yes? Wait what? No?” She could hear the panic in his tone as he considered her words.

“I'm kidding. Just tryna make you laugh Vaughn. Try to relax.”

“I do not understand that humour.” Joining the conversation again, LoaderBot pushed himself up on his arms and prepared to follow the duo as they started their journey through the attic.

Vaughn tightened his grip on Sasha's legs as he stood to full height, “Me neither buddy.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

Eyes wide as they both walked into the main hall, both Fiona and August were amazed by the obvious grandeur which this mansion still possessed despite its abandoned state. It wasn't difficult to imagine how beautiful this place would have been.

“Woah.” Fiona exclaimed as she eyed up the dust-covered chandelier which sat in the centre of the high ceiling, “We should probably try and find a light switch.” She suggested to August as he also admired the chandelier. She could see the darkening sky outside and knew that if they weren't quick then they would soon be plunged into darkness.

Swaggering across the room at a slow pace, August did not hesitate as he headed straight towards a small lever and reached out a hand to push it down.

The lights in the room flickered for a few moments, as if threatening to blow out, before becoming solid and providing a decent source of light for those in the room.

“Wow Mr August! Well done!” Gortys rolled up to side and looked up at him appreciatively.

Narrowing her eyes slightly, Fiona crossed her arms, “Okay. Two questions. One, why does Gortys call you Mr. August, and two, why do you know this place so well?” She caught August's eye and tapped her fingers against her arm she waited for a response.

Gortys answered for him, “I call Mr August, Mr August because I respect him as an individual and because he does not call me by my name either. It is fun for both of us! I would give him a different name but the way he looks at me is a little scary sometimes so I do not want to offend him.”

“The little robot is right,” August nodded, his nose-ring flashing in the light, “and I know this place cause I robbed it when I was a kid with my Ma. She had me come round and scout the place out as much as was possible before she bust in and took what she could.”

“Should have known that was going to be your answer,” Fiona muttered, “So who was the owner?”

“Some crabby old witch who had enough children to form a damn militia. And she did. This...wasn't an easy mark. She died 'bout a decade ago and her brats took everything and disappeared. I came back once a few years back to look for the hidden treasure bu-”

“Hidden treasure?” Perking up, Fiona's eyes started to dart around again. “What treasure? You wouldn't hold out on me would you August? What treasure?”

“There were rumours the old bat hid her most precious stuff from her kids, I met one of 'em and they told me that it was true but no one had been able to find it.” He grazed his hand across the balcony which decorated the stairs leading up the first floor. “So I though i'd give it a try y'know?”

“Find anything?”

He grimaced. “Did I fuck. Spent almost a full week here and got nothing.”

“Nice. Well...we may as well have a look while we are here.” Fiona concluded.

August snorted in disagreement, “And how do you think you're going to find in a few hours what I couldn't in a week?”

Straightening her back, Fiona sent him a smirk, “It will be easy. You were alone in your search and I have both you and-” She cleared her throat and shouted over to the little robot who had zoomed away to look at some broken chairs, “Gortys!” She called.

“Yes?” The robot replied, turning to face them.

“Gortys! Can you scan the room for any hollow nooks? Any space which could be used to hide treasure would be perfect. Thank you my cute little friend.” She asked, tone coloured with affection.

“For you Fiona, I would do anything. It would be my pleasure to scan the room.”

Whirring frantically, Gortys moved to the centre of the room and turned in a very slow circle, making sure to cover each section of the space within her sight as she scanned.

Fiona and August watched patiently, their excitement over a possible score heightening both their skills and their senses.

Eventually Gortys completed her scan and she beeped excitedly as she zoomed back over to the duo. “My sensors have located a false panel in the western wall beside the large painting. Aside from that there are no other panels or hidden areas in this room.”

“Perfect, thank you Gortys.” Fiona nodded as she raced over to the area which had just been described.

“August, if you wouldn't mind?” She asked, holding a hand out expectantly at the small section of wall.

“Sure lady.” Pulling his fist back, he punched a hole directly through the soft panel without much effort. “Easy.”

Using her hands, Fiona pulled more of the soft wall away so that they could both peek inside the small alcove.

“Gortys, some light please?”

As Gortys held a small light up to the area, it soon illuminated a rolled up sheet of paper and Fiona reached in excitedly to pull it out. Rolling it across the floor, she was greeted with the sight of a rough map of the mansion with several small areas on it dotted and marked out.

Fiona threw her hands up in the air in victory, “YES! I knew I could find it! See August! We women always know where to look for these types of things. I am Fiona, the queen of finding treasure!”

“Yeah sure whatever,” August replied, rolling his eyes, “so which of these places do we check out first?”

“I vote we start with the furthest away and work our way back to here in the main hall. It gives Sasha and the rest some time to find us.”

“Screw em! Lets just go now and when we have the treasure we can show them it. Not fast? You're last.” August grinned as he rolled up the map again and started to leave.

“Mr August, that does not seem like a very nice way to think of things but I love you anyway.” Gortys scolded in a pleasant tone.

Barely able to stop himself making a face, August replied, “Thanks little robot.”

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

Huffing as he stepped over another small box of junk, Vaughn was careful not to lose his balance and drop the woman who had attached herself to his back like a barnacle.

Mostly because she'd probably kick his ass if he dropped her.

They had been vaguely exploring the large attic which they'd been dropped in with a mixture of curiosity and disgust. Most of the boxes had been filled with old, useless scraps of metal but anything that looked like it might have a little value had been collected by LoaderBot.

Since they started their search, the robot had been virtually silent as he mourned the re-loss of his legs but Sasha and Vaughn payed him very little attention.

“Try that box over there.” Sasha directed and she squeezed her knees against Vaughn's side to direct him, “C'mon! Onwards my valiant steed!”

Vaughn turned his head to look at her, “Seriously? I feel emasculated here! I don't deserve this.” He complained but followed her line of direction regardless.

Bending down, he placed her gently on the ground next to the unopened box, “Hey LoaderBot, you okay there bud?” He placed a hand on one of the hulking yellow arms.

Stopping beside the pair, LoaderBot looked up at him with a blank stare before his head tilted towards his missing legs, “I am fine. I am working on my upper body strength. You are my inspiration Vaughn.”

“Is he making fun of me?” Vaughn pouted. “Et tu, LoaderBot?”

Pulling the lid off the large box, Sasha gasped as she saw what was inside.

“Clothes! Aww man, look how old these are,” she pulled out various items and her expression was filled with joy as she giggled at them, “Jeez Vaughn! Look at these!”

“Wow.” Vaughn laughed as he picked up an old-style dress, “This is kinda...cool...i suppose.” He lifted the dress high and yet it still trailed across the dusty floor. “Either the woman who wore this had massive spider legs or I am much shorter than I think I am. I'm not short am I?”

“That's a maxi dress.” Sasha tilted her head as she examined it. “It's designed to be long enough to hit the floor.”

“You, uh, didn't answer my question.” He paused. “Sasha? Am I short?”

Humming contentedly as she avoided his gaze, Sasha bopped her head from side to side.

“Fiiiine.” He sighed. “I'm short.”

“I didn't say anything,” looking up at him her eyes were dancing with mischief. “Do you see this?” She held up another dress, “I got my first kiss in a dress kinda similar to this. Felix had bought it for my birthday.” She looked wistful for a moment before shaking whatever thoughts she was having from her head and holding out her arms again. “C'mon Mr Universe, time is wasting away.”

Vaughn rolled his eyes as he bent down and allowed her to assume her previous position on his back. Amused by her nostalgic expression, he cleared his throat. “So who was your first kiss? Not that i'm trying to pry or anything but you looked happy and-”

“It's okay Vaughn,” she soothed to stop him from going into an awkward apology, “my first kiss was disgustingly sweet. Her name was Amanda and she was another trainee con-artist.”

“Your first kiss was a girl?” Vaughn couldn't keep the shock from his face and he wondered if Rhys knew he could have competition from the other sex.

“Yeah. And she stole my heart,” she swayed dramatically, “I'm totally kidding. She did steal my watch though.”

“One of the cons of being a con.” Vaughn quipped.

“So what about you, Admiral Triceps? You ever kissed another man?” Sasha asked, voice teasing.

“What? No.” He answered instantly but Sasha could detect a hint of shiftiness.

“Are you really trying to tell me that you've never kissed another guy? Really? Realllllllly?” She dragged out in a disbelieving tone.

“No! I've never kissed another guy,” Vaughn denied vehemently before muttering to himself, “well I suppose there was that one time with Rhys but...”

“YOU'VE KISSED RHYS!” Sasha screeched in his ear, causing him to flinch and drop her on her ass.

At he unexpectedly let go of her, Sasha fell to floor in a heap but she barely felt the impact as she continued to yell, “SERIOUSLY! When?!?”

“I never said that!” Vaughn backtracked immediately as he shook his head in denial.

“I heard you Vaughn! Tell me what happened,” jumping to her feet Sasha started to advance on the panicking accountant as he backed away from her slowly, “I love gossip!”

Eyes darting around as he planned an escape, Vaughn realised that he was trapped and a loud sigh escaped him, “Look, we were locked in one of the supply closets up on Hyperion overnight by some dick and when we woke up some stuff happened after it turned out that we wer-,” he cut himself off as he realised that she was no longer limping, “Hey! What happened to you ankle?”

Pausing her advance, Sasha glanced down at her ankle and moved it from side-to-side, “Huh. I guess it wasn't sprained. Bummer. Thanks for the carry though.”

“No problem,” Vaughn agreed quickly, pleased to have moved away from their previous topic of conversation.

Spotting the door which would lead them from the attic, Sasha let out a loud victory cheer. Bolting over to the door, she yanked it open and was greeted with a spiral staircase which led downwards.

“YES! C'mon lover boy! Lets get outta here! You too LoaderBot.” She exclaimed as she threw off the veil which was still decorating her hair.

Thumping forward, LoaderBot allowed the duo to pass in front of him and he shone a small light on the stairs as they started to descend.

 

x-x-x-x-x

 

“So, what is our plan?” Rhys asked for the fourth time in as many minutes.

“I know i'm not actually really there,” at his side, Jack was the first to answer, “but, hey Rhys listen to me, you're kinda starting to sound like a whiny little bitch.”  
  
“Was I asking you though?” Rhys responded, throwing the hologram a dirty look. “And I don't sound like a little bitch. I sound like a man who is concerned about a plan.”

“No, you sound like a bitch.” Athena butted in, “And for the fourth time, I am trying to locate some stairs for us to make it back upstairs.”

“Why is it taking so long? Can't you just, I dunno-” He made some vague slashing movements with his arms and gestured around him. “Use your assassin skills.”

“To create stairs?” Her tone was incredulous and Rhys pouted as his idea was shot down.

“Aww Rhysie! I once had a friend who came up with some real crappy ideas, and I mean real crappy. He tried to tell me that having a killer trap door was a waste of money,” Jack threw his head back as he laughed, “Man you should have seen it. He quickly changed his tune when he was falling through it a few weeks later. Handsome Jack is the king of practical demonstrations.”

“No, Handsome Jack is king of being a dicknozzle.” Rhys bit out, clenching his teeth as he dodged a low-hanging web.

“Really? A dicknozzle? That's your best effort,” Jack frowned, “I though we were past this sweetheart?”

“Past what? You still being trapped in my brain after trying to kill me and steal my body. That's kinda hard to get over.”

“Well you were the one who chose to be over-dramatic and destroy my entire legacy.” Jack shrugged. “I am entitled to a little bit of anger, sweetness.”

“Are you fu-”

“There!” Athena cried suddenly, stopping the argument between the pair, and pointed at a small hole in the opposite side of the room which they had just entered.

Rhys squinted his eyes as he looked at the hole and he could vaguely make out the shape of some stairs in the light of the other room.

Finally!

For the first time since he landed in this disgusting basement he felt something akin to hope.

“Lets go then! I am so, so, SO ready to get my ass out of the creepy basement!” He fist-punched the air in victory as they walked across the dark, damp room.

“You think this is creepy?” Athena raised an eyebrow, “Kid how have you even made it this far in these adventures?”

“HEY! I have a winning personality and I am wicked good with a stun baton. You should try me some time!” He puffed his chest out in pride.

“I very well might take you up on that offer.” She said seriously, turning to hide the small smile of her face as she heard Rhys intake suddenly.

“Wait what? I wasn't being seriou- It's just a thing you sa- Please don't kill me.” He cursed his own stupid mouth. If he was lucky, Athena would only maybe beat his ass in a private setting away from the rest of the group.

He doubted it though.

Crouching beside the hole, Athena measured it carefully, “I will go through first and make sure it is safe.” Without waiting for him to respond, she crouched lower and rolled through, leaving him alone.

Confident that she couldn't see him, Rhys rolled his eyes and cracked his knuckles, “Okay then. Lets go. Just need to roll across the disgusting, disease-ridden floor and escape through.” Tucking his non-metal arm into his stomach he crouched and prepared to follow Athena.

However, just as he was about to push forward, a large creaking sound drew his attention and he glanced up in surprise. The large sheet of metal which was dangling precariously atop some other old junk came into sudden view as it fell from its shaky position.

“Well i'm outta here, try not to die. Ciao!” Jack saluted and disappeared instantly.

“AIIIEEE!” Rhys screamed as he threw himself backwards, narrowly missing the sheet as it sliced past his body and blocked off the small hole.

He watched with a comically shocked face as various other heavy objects were disturbed by the metal and also came to fall in place in front of the hole.

Unable to believe his luck, Rhys tangled his hair in his hands. “Umm...Athena? Helloooooooooo?!? You there?” Rhys bellowed and he could hear the panic in his own voice as he was thrust into utter darkness.

He waited for a few seconds but no reply came.

“Well...shit.”


End file.
